Helena Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The Secret Doctrine, subtitled The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy, was originally published as two volumes that totaled more than fifteen hundred pages. The excerpt here comes from the first volume, Cosmogenesis, in which Blavatsky lays out the creation of the universe. The second volume, Anthropogenesis, deals with the evolution of humanity through seven “root races.” For Theosophists, The Secret Doctrine was the first modern description of an ancient and universal truth out of which religion, science, and philosophy have grown. In the section that follows, Blavatsky introduces the reader to the fundamental principles upon which Theosophy is based.

Proem

The stanzas from the Book of Dzyan are the mysterious, ancient religious text upon which Blavatsky said The Secret Doctrine was based. Although she identified Dzyan as the oldest book in the world, archeologists have pointed out that no such book is known to have...